Training and Enterprise Councils (Hansard, 26 March 1991)

§ 13. Mrs. Maureen Hicks
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what assessment has been made of the effect of TECs on voluntary training organisations.

§ Mr. Howard
It is up to every training and enterprise council to decide which providers to contract with. I am satisfied that TECs will give voluntary organisations every opportunity to bid for the training that is required in their local areas.

§ Mrs. Hicks
Does my right hon. and learned Friend agree that when training and enterprise councils are considering the suitability of training organisations, the most important criterion is that that organisation should be able to provide quality training? If there are unsuccessful training organisations, can we please ensure that trainees currently undergoing training in them are transferred to others and that we always keep uppermost in our mind the training needs of those with special difficulties?

§ Mr. Howard
I entirely agree with my hon. Friend. Quality training is the supreme objective of training and enterprise councils. It is very important to ensure that if a provider's contract is not renewed the trainees continue to be catered for. That is something that the training and enterprise councils are achieving.

§ Mr. Simon Hughes
Following the question asked by the hon. Member for Wolverhampton, North-East (Mrs. Hicks), will the Secretary of State have a look at the prospects for Apex, the ex-offenders' organisation which has been carrying out a unique training programme countrywide but is threatened, certainly in the south-east of England and in south-east London, with the imminent withdrawal of its funding? Will the Minister consider whether such organisations ought to be given special status when the general budget allocation is being made or whether, if necessary, additional funding to minimise the effects of the 37 per cent. reduction in funding that is about to decimate organisations such as Apex, Microtech and the rest?

§ Mr. Howard
There is no question of withdrawing funding from an organisation in the way that the hon. Gentleman suggests. Each training and enterprise council is reviewing the training needs in its area and deciding how training can best and most effectively be provided. I hope that the hon. Gentleman supports that objective.

§ Mr. John Greenway
Is my right hon. and learned Friend aware that the North Yorkshire training and enterprise council, which is located in my constituency, has been a very great success? Will he join me in congratulating Colin Shepherd and his team of industrialists on the tremendous amount of voluntary work that they have done to help make the training and enterprise council a success in North Yorkshire? Does he agree that local industrialists, working with the training and enterprise councils, can best decide what are the training needs of a particular area? When does my right hon. and learned Friend expect to review the needs of the training and enterprise councils?

§ Mr. Howard
I entirely agree with my hon. Friend. I am happy to pay tribute to Colin Shepherd and to the rest of the board of the North Yorkshire training and enterprise council. By working closely with the local education authority, they have achieved particular success in promoting education-business partnerships in North Yorkshire. I entirely welcome that initiative.

§ Mr. McLeish
Will the Secretary of State accept that his response to a serious issue has been shocking and complacent? Will not he accept that 80,000 places have been cut from employment training, that £300 million has been cut from the budget and that we have the fastest rising rate of unemployment in Europe? Why does he not take the issue seriously? Is he unwilling or unable to reverse the scandalous breakdown of special needs provision in Britain?

§ Mr. Howard
As the hon. Gentleman knows perfectly well, because we have made it clear time after time, we believe in looking at the individual needs of unemployed people, helping them back into work as quickly as possible and making sure that the widest range of help is available to them. That is why we are providing up to 100,000 extra opportunities next year by means of job clubs and the job interview guarantee scheme so that all unemployed people have the maximum help available to them to get back into work as quickly as possible.